Except for football, all the fall sports have ended. The football state semifinals will be held this weekend, followed by the state championships at Ohio State University’s Ohio Stadium in Columbus the following week.
• Xenia recently announced its fourth athletic hall of fame class. New inductees are: Ashley Brown (2004 grad, basketball); Bill Kaylor (boys basketball coach 1946-65), Dave Denzin (’65, football and track); Eric Salter (’79, basketball); Michele Boeckerman Sharp, Pharm.D (’88, basketball, softball, volleyball); Mike Cassity (’63, football, basketball, baseball); Armic and Edna Adams (longtime schools and community contributors); and the 1964 football that went 9-1 and won a Western Ohio League title.
The new class will inducted at halftime of the Friday, Dec. 5 boys basketball game against visiting Hamilton. An induction ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. the next day at Faith Community Methodist Church in Xenia. The event is open to the public and a fee of $5 covers dessert.
For more information, contact Gregg Cross at (937) 372-5417.
• Springboro recently announced four new inductees into its athletic hall of fame: Mike Bacher (1996 graduate; soccer), Chuck Ghysels (’08 grad, baseball), Troy Holtrey (1992-2012), coach/AD) and Blaine Kincaid (’09, swimming).
The induction ceremonies will be Jan. 23-24 during halftime of the boys basketball game with visiting Lebanon on Friday. An official induction will take place the next night at Heatherwoode Golf Course. See the school’s website for more information.
• Local professional baseball scout Roger Janeway says that incoming UD basketball signee Ryan Mikesell of St. Henry also has a future in baseball.
A right-handed pitcher, the 6-foot-7 senior has a heater that’s consistently in the mid-80 mph range. He likely won’t be drafted in June, but he’ll certainly remain on baseball’s radar. There’s also a possibility he’ll join UD’s baseball team after the basketball season is finished.
• Springboro graduate and University of Mobile (Ala.) volleyball player Sara Van Wert recently was named first team All-Southern States Athletic Conference for the second straight season. A senior middle blocker, she posted 238 kills and 53 blocks. She also had a .310 hitting percentage and averaged 2.40 kills per set.
Van Wert was named to the Capital One Academic All-District I team and is up for the NAIA Academic All-America Team. She is majoring in biology with a pre-med concentration and is minoring in chemistry.
• Charles Wilkins, a 1962 Beavercreek graduate, should have been included in last week’s mention of the Beavers’ upcoming athletic hall of fame inductees. An outstanding pitcher, Wilkins was 22-5 for the Beavers over a three-year varsity career. He also was a baseball standout at Cedarville College.
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